Somewhere in Australia
by Shadow-chan93
Summary: Rosette's family inherited a ranch in Australia. There the blonde meets her childhood friend Chrno, but he has a dark secret.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** I watched too much McLeod's Daughters lately… And with much, I really mean much…

PS: After writing the story I noticed that Rosette discribes Australia not really in a positive way... I'm sorry if I wrote too negatively. I did not want to insult the country somehow. That has never been in my intention...

**Somewhere in Australia:**

**Chapter 1:**

The blonde looked out of the small ellipse shaped window. She could see the ocean rushing by under the plane. Far away in the distance she could already see land. Fortunately they would arrive soon. The whole flight wasn't very comfortable. There had been lots of turbulences because of bad weather.

Rosette sighed and closed the lid of the window. Afterwards she turned to her brother who sat next to her. He was fallen asleep and Rosette decided that it was best to do the same.

Some hours later they were driving on the street in a jeep. The landscape outside was pretty boring. Only some hills and bushes or yellow grass. The only change was the group of kangaroos they saw around noon.

In the afternoon they finally arrived at their destiny.

There was a huge ranch with lots of pastures. The cattle looked curiously at the car. In the distance some horses pricked up their ears and watched the vehicle go down the road.

The car stopped slowly in front of a big building. All four doors opened and the members of the Christopher family stepped outside.

Rosette shadowed her eyes with her hand. The sun was very bright at the moment. Afterwards she brushed some sweat away. She had totally forgotten how hot it could be in her home country.

Originally she was born in Australia. This had also been the ranch where she grew up. But shortly after her fifth birthday her father Vinsent had gotten a great job offer. Of course he had said yes and took off to the USA. Earning a lot of money there, he soon had bought a nice house in Michigan and his wife and the two kids had followed him to the USA one year later.

The grandfather, the former proprietor of the ranch hadn't been very happy about that. He had actually wanted his son to take over the farm. The two men had some big arguments and went apart in dispute.

Now, a little bit more than ten years later they had gotten a call that Vinsent's father had died. Since there was no one else of the family left, the ranch was now owned by Vinsent. Because of his current situation he couldn't keep both, his well-paid job and the ranch. So the family took of to Australia to sell the ranch. There was a lot of paper work to do. Moreover it was more like a holiday for his wife and the two siblings who had winter break anyways.

Rosette cursed the heat. At home it was still winter while it was summer here. Furthermore she cursed the whole damn trip. Sure, she had always liked Australia as a child – but only because she hadn't known how life was in other parts of the world. Compared to the USA, it was the worst place for a girl where she was now. That had several reasons: 1. The next village was about one hour away. 2. The next village with a halfway good shopping mall was about three and a half hours far away. 3. She actually had planned to do something with her friends in during the winter break. 4. Because it was a ranch with lots of animals, it was dirty and her nice shoes were already ruined.

A man with some dirty jeans and shirt approached them. He quickly cleaned his hands with a handkerchief before shaking hands with Mr. Christopher.

"Hello, Vinsent. Nice to see you again." Rosette remembered the name of the man. He was called Joe and was one of the farm workers. In the past the old man had always been like an uncle to her. She remembered that he had taught her how to ride her little pony. Now, the time surely showed his effects on him. His hair was almost grey now and some wrinkles were on his face. He still had this warm smile of his though. Joe greeted the others too.

Some other workers greeted them as well while passing by. Mostly they were on the way to repair something or to feed the animals. Another young man came down the road with a dark horse and waved to them before disappearing behind the stables.

Meanwhile Joe helped Vinsent to bring the luggage into the huge house.

Lazy as Rosette was, she didn't help them. She was already pissed enough. It had been her father's idea to come here, so he could do the work. She decided to walk around for a little while. The ranch would surely wake some nice childhood memories. At first she went to the horse pasture directly next to the stables. At the moment there was only one mare with her foal on it.

The blonde leaned against the fence. She jumped as something rough touched her left elbow. As she turned around she looked into the eyes of the dark horse she had seen earlier with the young man. And Rosette hadn't even noticed it standing here.

The saddle and bridle were already taken off. Now the horse stood there, tied at the fence and with big eyes watching her.

"Hey, you. Don't scare again, will ya?" She smiled and stroke over the muffle.

Suddenly the horse snorted loudly and in no second Rosette's arm was full of horse slobber. The girl shrieked and brushed it away on the fur of the horse.

Behind her someone laughed.

Angrily she turned around. "That's not funny!"

The dark haired man shrugged his shoulders went to the horse. "Well, that's farm life, young missy. But I guess some city people like you are just not used to that." Turning his back to her he took a brush out of the box he had brought earlier and began to run it over the horse back.

"Hey, I'm not just a snobbish city girl. I lived here for six years. Though that was before we moved to the USA." She defended herself and sat down on top of the fence.

The other one stopped brushing the horse and hesitated before turning around. He looked at her with narrowed red eyes. "Rosette?"

Surprised she looked at him. "Where do you know my name from?" She asked puzzled.

"I'm Chrno. Don't you remember me?" He said and smiled at her.

"Uhm…" It took a while until the memories from ten years ago were coming back.

"My uncle worked on the neighbor ranch. I sometimes came over here to play with you and your brother." He helped her.

Rosette snapped with her finger. "Right! Sorry, but I honestly didn't recognize you. You changed so much. I can only remember the you who had long hair and who was shorter than me although you were older."

Chrno scratched the back of his head nervously and laughed. "Yeah, I was always a short child. Fortunately that changed."

"And why are you working here now? Don't you have to go to school?" Rosette asked him.

Chrno shook his head. "I finished school last year." He changed the brush and brushed the mane of the horse.

"Ah, and therefore you're now working here." Rosette guessed.

"Yeah, but only until I have enough money to finance the college. It's damn expensive at the moment." He told her. He also told her that he was going to study medicine once he had the money he needed. Suddenly a noise was heard. It was Chrno cell phone which interrupted them. He answered it and brushed his dark hair which shimmered purple in the sun out of his face. Chrno grimaced and told the one on the other end of the line that he would be there soon. After ending the call he threw the brush into the box. "And again more work do to…" He sighed. "Hey, could you do me a favour, please? Just take the horse to left pasture over there and take care you close the door rightly. I've to hurry up. A fence broke and some of the cattle in the eastern area ran away."

Rosette nodded, he thanked her and hurried over to a motorcycle which leaned on the wall of the stable. He waved to her before driving away.

Rosette turned around to the horse and began to untie the robe. "Dare it to snort again and I won't bring you to the pasture." She warned the animal which looked at her with huge brown eyes. "Awww… you're so cute!" **SNORT.** "That's it… I hate you…" Because she had promised Chrno to take it to the pasture, she did so. "Next time I won't do that again."

Fuming she went into the house and into her old room. It still looked like she had left it so much time ago. A bed was on the right next to the door which was in the left corner. On the opposite side there was a window with a desk underneath. Right next to the desk was a big old wardrobe and on the right side of the room was a rocking horse. Oh, how she had loved it as child...

Her suitcase lay on the bed. She opened it and looked for some thin clothes. After she had changed, Joshua called her and told her that they could have some tea and pie on the porch. Joe's wife Molly had prepared it for them. (They and the other workers lived on the ranch too).

It was some delicious apple pie.

While Vinsent and Joe talked about the farm, the siblings and their mother chatted with Molly about this and that. Molly was a nice woman with a warm smile. She had short curly hair and was a little bit chubby. She also thought that everyone who wasn't as chubby as her was too thin. Therefore she gave everyone an extra portion pie because she didn't want the others to 'starve'

About an hour later Chrno came to tell Joe that the fence was repaired again. He also fell prey to Molly's eat-some-pie-you're-too-thin-attacks. He didn't want to and Molly continues nevertheless. Vinsent also invited him to eat with them, but Chrno said he had lots of work to do and no time for that now.

"Perhaps to another time." Chrno told him and said goodbye before going to the stables again.

"He's a diligent boy. Very hard working. One of the best worker we've here. Sometimes I even have to command him to stop. He really wants the money for his college. Hm… I should think of giving him something extra." Joe commented laughing after Chrno had gone. "Now to the ranch again." He turned to Vinsent again. "It would really be a pity to sell it. Why don't you keep it? I could handle the business here during the time you're in the USA. Like this you only have to come here two times a year for stupid paper stuff…blablabla" Rosette stopped listening to them and laughed nervously as Molly gave her the fourth piece of pie.

In the evening Rosette walked around again. It was so damn boring… Her brother wasn't a great help too… He had been with Joe the whole day and helped him repairing the tractor. Her mother and Molly chatted about terribly boring old days. Chrno had to work and she didn't know the others.

She saw Chrno in the stable and thought she could perhaps help him. He was kneeling and looked for something in the hay store.

"Lost something?" She asked him making him spin around.

"Hell, don't sneak in like that! You scared me to death!" He laughed and brushed the hay off his trousers while getting up. "And yes, I lost my ring while taking some hay for the horses. My girlfriend had the same ring… And I'm so clumsy and lose it. Well I lost some weight in the last time. The ring doesn't fit anymore. It slips off all the time..."

"Oh, really. What's your girlfriend's name?" Rosette ignored the last part.

"I don't want to talk about her now…" He whispered and looked away from her.

Because he looked so sad Rosette offered him to help searching it, but he said there was no need to. It was gone now and perhaps it could be found after the hay store was empty. Moreover he had to continue his work now.

"Okay, we'll see at dinner time then." Rosette already wanted to say goodbye as Chrno told her that he wasn't coming to dinner today. The day had been hard and he was tired. Furthermore he had to get up very early tomorrow and he preferred to sleep.

Disappointed Rosette pouted and said good night.

Then it was already time for dinner. All were gathered in the dining room and cheered as Molly brought her famous steaks.

Joe asked where Chrno was again because his seat was free. Rosette told him what she knew which made Joe's expression serious. He shortly looked over to Molly. The old woman sighed. "Alright. I'll bring something to his room again."

"Does it happen often that he doesn't come for dinner?" Rosette asked Joe.

The man nodded and chewed a piece of his food. "He's barely eating anything since… well, I think he hasn't come over it yet." He said sadly and drank something.

"Over what?" Well, he had begun to speak and now he had to tell her everything.

"Well, you see, his girlfriend died in July. A car accident. He hasn't been the same anymore since then. He only fakes his good mood, doesn't eat… He also uses the work to distract him from thinking. A poor boy… He just has to move on. He can't go on living in the past…"

He shook his head and stared into empty space before taking another huge bite of the meat.

"Oh, I didn't know that…" She whispered, but Joe didn't listen to her anymore.

--

The next day was something special. They had planned a trip to a little waterfall with a lake where they could swim. Rosette already looked forward to it. She jumped out of her bed and got ready. Then she hurried downstairs and burst into the kitchen. "Good morning everybo-" No one was there and the clock said that it was eleven o'clock.

"WHAT?!" The girl screamed. Oh no, she had overslept and now the others went without her. What a pity. Fine, then she would take a horse and go on her own trip.

She went outside and met Chrno on the way to the horses. To her surprise he offered her to take her to the lake. Today was his free day.

"That would be great!" She grinned widely and they went to the stables.

Chrno also knew a shortcut to the lake. The others would make huge eyes when they saw that Rosette arrived before them.

It took one hour, but then they finally heard the sound of the waterfall.

It was a beautiful place and perfect for swimming.

Rosette tied her horse on a tree and placed the towel she had brought on a nice sunny place. Then she took off her clothes – of course she wore her bikini underneath.

Meanwhile Chrno took off his clothes too, now wearing his bathing trousers. He took the saddle off his horse, as well as his bridle.

"What're ya doing?" Rosette asked curiously.

"Swimming." He said and smirked. Then he jumped on the horse back and directed it to the lake. The animal snorted before going into the water. Soon the water was deep enough for the horse to swim and only its head was seen while Chrno was above it.

"Hey, that looks like fun!" Rosette shouted and laughed.

"Sure!" he answered her.

Just to the time the horse went out of the water, the others arrived.

"You little cheater! You took the shortcut!" Joe laughed as he saw them.

"Always!" Chrno said and stopped the horse in the water. The water was going up to the joint of the horse. The horse snorted again and scraped with his right front leg in the water.

Chrno and Joe chatted for some more minutes. The horse scraped more with his leg.

The ones of you, readers, who know horses, know also that scraping with a leg is a sign, that the horse will lie down to roll themselves in the dirt. Or in this case in the water.

And so it happened.

Chrno was caught out of guard and screamed as the horse bent its front legs. He quickly jumped off and then away from the horse while it lay down in the shallow water and rolled in it in delight.

The other people around roared in laughter. They began to unpack their stuff and Rosette's mother brought a huge picnic blanket.

All in all it was a nice day. Everybody had fun.

Rosette watched Chrno from time to time.

Joe had been right the evening before. Chrno was only faking his good mood. As fast he could smile, grin or laugh, his smile faded away again when he felt unobserved. Then his face was always so serious with a hint of sadness…

Rosette felt sorry for him. She had to talk to him some time soon.

Then it was already time to go home.

--

The paper work was more than expected and it seemed like the Christophers had to stay longer than planned. In the meantime Rosette and Joshua's winter break ended. Therefore they were sent to the local school. Rosette was so pissed about that. She wanted to go home to the USA. NOW. It came better. The first school day was a bloody hell. Their maths teacher Ms Valentine was a little witch...

Later on there were other news.

Vinsent had found out that he could earn more money with the breeding of horses and cattle than he earned in his old job. That meant that they would stay here forever now. Rosette directly began to argue with her father. She didn't want to stay here. All her friends were in the USA and here she barely knew anyone. How could he take her out of her life? That was terrible. The argument ended with Rosette screaming at Vinsent. He raised his voice too and Rosette turned around on her heel.

She wanted a place where she could be alone and climbed on the attic of the hay store. Half an hour later she heard a sound and climbed down. It was Chrno.

"Still looking for your ring?" She asked him and leaned against a beam.

He gave her a short nod and looked over to her.

"Hey, I'm sorry about yesterday. I shouldn't have asked you…" She thought for a moment. "About her."

"Never mind. You couldn't know." He answered her lowly.

"Yes, but I could have asked it less directly."

"IT IS OKAY." Chrno said louder making her fall silent for a very short moment.

"I'm just saying tha-"

"Listen." He hissed. "That is none of your business and it will never be. So leave me alone now!" He screamed the last part at her.

She winced and backed away. Then she turned around and ran.

That was so mean. Everyone was screaming at her. Nobody liked her. Why did she have to be here and not with her friends like she was supposed to be?

She saw a horse tied to the fence. It was already saddled. The blonde untied it and with on leap she climbed on it. She pushed her shank against the flank of the horse and it began to trot away. While passing by she told one of the worker that she would be away for the afternoon – just in case someone was looking for her which surely wouldn't happen.

--

It was already evening and dark clouds eclipsed. Worriedly Joe looked up. "My my… if that's not going to be a huge thunder storm. Go and bring the animals into the stable. The ones from the east pasture too." He told the workers who took off immediately.

Meanwhile Joshua sat in the house and watched the first raindrops fall against the window pane. His mother sat next to him and turned the radio on. The speaker warned the farmer because a storm was coming. It had already reached the neighbor village.

A soaked Vinsent entered the room and took off his wet rain cloak. Happily he told them that he had helped the others and that all animals were safe by now. The only thing to worry about were the corn fields.

"Anyways. Where's Rosette? I've to talk to her again." The father asked and wiped some raindrops out of his face.

"Don't know…" Joshua continued staring out of his window. "In her room I guess."

Vinsent shrugged his shoulder and went into the bath to take a shower.

It was dinner time already and all except for Rosette and Chrno were there. Far away in the distance there was already some thunder heard.

Vinsent began to worry. His sorrows increased when he heard that the last one who had seen her was the worker who said that she went away with the horse.

"Oh my God! What if she lost the way and is still out there in the storm?!" Vinsent screamed.

Molly said that she would go over to Chrno's little apartment and ask him if he had seen her. She took an umbrella and went outside. The others followed her – without umbrellas though. They would look somewhere else on the ranch.

Chrno also hadn't seen her and said he would look in the hay store. She wasn't there, but therefore he found the item he searched before and put it in his pocket.

Then he went outside again and met up with the others in the middle of the yard.

"Found her?" Someone asked, but nobody did.

Neighing was heard and Rosette's horse galloped towards the stable – but without Rosette.

"Holy hell… we've to find her! Hurry up and take the horses. Like this we can follow her traces better!" Joe called and in no time all were ready to take off. "Okay, in case you don't find her within the next two hours, get back. If the storm gets too bad, get back too. We'll call the police then."

--

Rosette stumbled along the way and sniffed. Everything today was bad. The arguments, everyone screaming at her and then the stupid horse that went crazy because a lightning crashed into a tree fifty meters far away. She fell off and landed directly in the biggest mud puddle there was. Oh, and not to forget the stupid weather. The sun had already set and the rain was cold. She clutched her arms and rolled down the sleeves of her shirt.

Additionally she was so far away from home that no one would find her in the next time.

She sniffed again and winced as a loud thunder was heard. She accidentally took a step to the wrong side, slipped and fell down a little hill. Arriving on the bottom she stayed in the sitting position she was in and started to cry quietly.

A strange sound was heard and she looked up. In front of her were the two white teeth of a hissing rattlesnake. The blonde shrieked. She had totally forgotten the dangerous animals there were. How could she even have been so stupid to run away alone in an area she didn't even know with dangerous animals? That had been her most stupid idea ever.

The snake hissed again and she shrieked. A loud BANG was heard and the snake collapsed. A bright light blinded her. It came from a flashlight.

"Are you hurt?" Chrno asked her and tied the rifle on the saddle. He jumped off the horse and looked at her. Another thunder was heard and the rain showered down.

"No." Rosette replied and got to her feet. All of her clothes were soaked by mud now.

Because the storm had begun now, there was a loud noise and Chrno didn't understand and she had to say it louder again.

Chrno came closer to her, so she could understand him. "The storm is heavy now! It's too dangerous to go home through the forest. There's an old mine not far away. We can go there and wait until the storm is over!" He pointed into a certain direction and gestured her to follow him.

She did so and brushed the traces of tears and rain out of her face. Rosette wanted to start a conversation – she hated the silence. But Chrno seemed pretty much stressed and pissed too. No wonder. He was all wet and the rain was cold. Plus he had already had a hard day.

In the end Chrno had been right. The mine wasn't far away.

Relieved they entered it. At least it was dry in there.

"For how long do we have to stay here?" She asked tiredly and sat down on a rock next to the wall.

"I don't know." Chrno still didn't want to talk. He sat down too.

After a while he began to get nervous.

"'s something wrong?" Rosette asked him.

"I just don't like it here… That's all." He answered her shortly again.

"Hm… okay…" Rosette said and got. "Hey, I'll be back soon. Please stay here." With that she turned around and exited the cave.

Chrno got up as well and wanted to know where she was going. She told him that she needed a toilet.

He nodded and sat down again. Taking the opportunity that she was gone, he pulled the item out of his pocket.

--

Finished behind the bushes Rosette returned. She brushed some wet blonde bangs out of her face. "Back aga-" Her mouth clapped open as she saw Chrno sitting there with a injection in his arm.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Rosette's mouth clapped open as she found Chrno with an injection in his arm.

"Chrno!" She shrieked loudly.

The shook was written on his face. Why was she back again? Couldn't she have stayed away for one minute longer? Only one minute!

"What are you doing?!" Her voice rose as she looked unbelieving at him.

"Wait, wait! I-I can explain that!" Chrno stuttered. "It-it's not what you're thinking-"  
"You're taking drugs." The blonde said emotionless. She needed time to realise it.

"Okay, okay. It IS what you're thinking…" Chrno turned his eyes away from her and pulled the needle out. "I admit it. I admit it. I'm taking drugs. Fine. Now you know it."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?! Since then do you to that?!" Rosette screamed at him. "Why do you always lie if someone asks you if you are okay? WHY?! Why has nobody else noticed it until now?!"

"Because I know how to hide the stuff!" He shouted back angrily.

"Where?" She crossed her arms and stared sternly at him.

He turned his gaze away from her. "Under the hay in the store…"

"WHAT?" Again Rosette's voice was too loud and too high. "Then you were always lying at me about the lost ring?!"

Chrno nodded shortly.

"And you also lied about the thing that you wanted to use the money for your college. But you're only using it to buy new drugs. That's disgusting." Rosette's voice calmed down again. Now she was nothing but really angry with him. She was fuming.

"No!" He said loudly. "No! That was no lie! I want to go to college! I want to study medicine! I want to save lives!" The tune in his voice told her that he was telling the truth.

"Then why don't you start with your own life? Why don't you save your own life. Why?" Rosette whispered and shook her head. "Why do you take drugs?"

Chrno narrowed his crimson eyes and hugged his knees. "The heroin kills the pain… It makes me forget the pain… it makes me feel happy again…" His nails dug into his legs. Soft sobs escaped his lips and he leaned his forehead on his knees. His dark bangs covered his face.

Rosette had never seen him being so… weak. She sat down next to him and waited for a moment. "Wanna talk?" She finally asked and stroke over his arm.

He looked over to her with teary eyes. Chrno nodded nearly invisible and muttered a thanks.

"From what you have said earlier I guess, Joe told you what happened in July." He didn't wait for Rosette to reply. "But I also guess that he didn't told you that I was with her, now did he?"

"No… what happened?" Was she now to direct? She didn't want to urge him to tell her.

"See, her father was driving the car. My girlfriend Mary sat next to him on the passenger's seat and I was in the back. Well, I guess that saved my life… Anyways, we were driving down the street. Suddenly a tire broke and we were thrown off the road. We crashed against a tree next to a precipice. The tree prevented us from falling down in the first moment. But the impact destroyed the front of the car and Mary's legs stuck. Suddenly the tree in front of us broke and fell into the depth. With it some parts of the ground. Panicked we tried to get out. The only one who couldn't was Mary. Together with her father I tried to pull her out. Just in the moment the ambulance and emergency arrived, the car lost balance and fell down. It crashed on the ground. If Mary's father wouldn't have been there to hold me back, I would have jumped after it. But that's not all… Mary still lived when the emergency took her out of the car. She died during on the way to the hospital because one of damn doctors made a mistake… That's the reason why I want to become a doctor… I want to save lives… I want to do it better than him…" Talking was difficult for him now. More and more sobs escaped his lips. "If I had been a doctor back then, I would have been able to save her." Now he cried loudly.

Not knowing what else to do, she hugged him. He hugged her back a little bit too tightly, but she didn't mind. He buried his face in her shoulder and cried for some time.

"That was the worst day in my life…" He continued after he had calmed down. " I had a trauma and tried to kill myself several times… Then… then my brother Aion came and gave me some heroin and… and it… it helped. At first I took it once a week, then two times, three times, four, then every day… Now I need it every five hours… You've seen what happens to me if I don't get it… I get pissed, I get aggressive… I screamed at you. Sorry." He closed his eyes and sighed. "Without it I am totally mentally labile. I scream, shout, laugh or curl up crying under my blanket in my bed. It's terrible… it also makes me so tired, that I can't even stay awake for dinner in the evening. Since August I lost five kilos of weight I think… It's terrible and I can't break the addiction." He continued lamenting about it.

"I'll help you. You can do it. You can break the addiction." Rosette told him softly and patted his back.

"You won't tell anyone, will you? If Joe knows, I'll lose my job, I won't earn money anymore. It'll be a horror… I don't want to end like one of those homeless junkies on the street." He chuckled sadly.

"No, no, I won't tell anyone. Your secret is safe."

"Thanks…" He closed his eyes and fall asleep.

Rosette waited a little moment and put him down next to her before she fell asleep too.

The next morning Chrno was already awake and made the horse ready. He mumbled a 'Good morning' and tied the saddle.

Rosette stretched her back. Spending the night on the hard ground had been highly uncomfortable and her back hurt now.

Chrno had finished his task and climbed on the horse. He his hand to her and pulled her onto the horse behind him. "Hold tight, I don't want you to fall off." E told her and she embraced his waist.

It took them almost two and a half hours until they arrived at the ranch. Rosette almost fell asleep behind Chrno. When she heard the voices of her relatives calling her she looked up though. She smiled at them and got off the horse.

Her mother took her in her arms and hugged her. "Thanks God!"

Vinsent thanked Chrno for helping his daughter.

"No problem, sir." Chrno said and brought the horse to the stable. Afterwards the first place he went was the hay store.

--

Some days later Rosette went downtown with new friend from the school. Her name was Azmaria and she also brought another girl, Sathella, along with her.

They were shopping in the mall at first. The mall was huge. Rosette felt completely home there. Then they watched a movie in the movie theatre. Afterwards they went into a pizzeria.

All of a sudden they saw Chrno walking past the window. All three girls waved. He waved back, but he didn't come in to greet them.

"Hey, that's the first time since July, I see him in town." Sathella said and watched him going down the street. She had been in a class with him. And as far as Rosette already knew Azmaria, Sathella and some of the others had been good friends. "What a pity that he's so distanced at the moment." Sathella said and took a sip of her coke.

"No wonder… I mean, it's normal, that you're not yourself anymore after seeing your love die…" Rosette replied her and two surprised eyes looked at her.

"Where do you know that from? Not even we've known that he was with her until now. Who told?" Azmaria asked puzzled.

"Oh, he told me a few days ago." It was nearly incomprehensive. She spoke again with her mouth full of pizza.

"Really? He really did? Wow, he hasn't told anyone yet. Well, except for you. He didn't even talk to us, we heard it from Mary's father..." Sathella told her a little bit enviously. "You're a good friend of Chrno, hu?" she asked curiously.

"What? Oh, well, not really. I guess I just asked him to the right time." Rosette replied and laughed nervously.

"Ha! You're blushing!" Sathella shouted teasingly.

"No, I'm not!" Rosette covered her cheeks with her palms. "I'm not!"

"Oh, you so are!" Azmaria joined the game

It went on like this for a little time. After eating the whole pizza and some dessert they went outside. The main street with all its lights was beautiful in the red evening light.

Suddenly it was already eight o'clock.

Rosette checked her watch and shrieked. "Oh no! I just missed my bus! And the way home takes three and a half hour anyways! My father will kill me, if I come home after twelve o'clock!" She began to panic. Her father could be really strict about stuff like that.

Just in that moment a car stopped next to them. The window went down and Chrno's head popped out. "Hey, I just heard that. Shall I take you home with me? I'm done here and now on the way back."

"That would be great!" Rosette cheered and hopped a little.

Sathella and Azmaria also came along with them. Chrno took them home. Fortunately they didn't live far away from the ranch.

"Goodbye~" Rosette sing-song as they got out of the car and waved widely. "That was a nice day." She said, closed the window and turned to Chrno. "And how was your day?"

"Hm… actually the usual and buying some different things and groceries. Well, I'm not going downtown often, you know." He told her and turned the radio on.

"By buying various things, you don't mean drugs, do you?" Rosette glanced suspiciously over to him.

"Uhm…"

"CHRNO! I thought you'd stop!" She yelled at him.

"That's not that easy, you know?" He shouted back and looked at her.

"Waaah! Look on the street! A kangaroo!" Rosette screamed loudly and pointed on the street.

"Ah!" The car braked abruptly and the kangaroo hopped away. "Phew."

The blonde girl continued yelling at him for buying the stuff.

"Hey, okay, okay, I got your message. But really, it isn't that easy. I can't stop all of a sudden. You have to understand!" He defended himself.

"You don't even try to!" He pouted after she blamed him for this.

"I do try to." He mumbled.

"Fine. Then give me the heroin." Rosette said and held her hand to him.

"Are you crazy?" He looked shocked at her. "I'll surely not give you drugs of any kinds. No, no, no. In the end it's my fault that you're addicted too. No, no, I can't risk that." He shook his head and stayed hard no matter how often she tried to convince him.

"Pah." She crossed her arms and legs. "It seems like you don't want my help."

"What? No, I do want your help, but more like mental support, you know?" He didn't want to lose her now. Furthermore she could go to Joe if he angered her.

"But my idea is more effective." Still, it was always her who spoke the final word.

They arrived at home.

--

In the next morning Rosette sneaked into the hay store and went to the place Chrno had always been. She brushed some hay away and found a loose board on the floor. She lifted it and found what she was looking for. A bag with injections and another bag which didn't show the content. She put it in her own bag and closed the hole in the floor. Then she covered it with hay again and left the place as fast as possible without being suspicious. She ran upstairs and into her room. Where she spun around in search of a good spot to hide it. Her eyes fell on the second drawer of the wardrobe. That was good. She opened the drawer and took some pieces of her underwear out of it. Then she placed the content of her bag in the left corner. Afterwards she covered it with some pants and bras.

Well, okay. It was relatively improbably that someone would look for it there.

Satisfied with her work she went downstairs to help Molly in the kitchen.

Later in the afternoon she strayed around on the ranch like she did so often during the last time. Actually it wasn't so bad here. She began to feel home again. Perhaps the idea of staying here forever wasn't as bad as she thought.

Later on she saw Chrno. He was coming to her and he had a visible bad mood.

"Where is it?" He hissed directly in front of her face.

"I don't know what you mean." She chirped and continued her way.

"You know exactly what I mean." He growled dangerously and followed her. "You do not know what happens if I don't get it in time."

"Can't be that bad." She wasn't impressed. Now she even began to hum a song. Suddenly she felt a tight grip on her wrist. She was turned around and pressed to a tree.

"Where is it?" He growled next to her ear.

"You're hurting me!" The blonde screamed and struggled against his grip.

He gasped and jumped away. "I'm sorry." He said heavily breathing. He was again close to tears. Chrno turned around on his heel and ran away.

"Wait!" Rosette chased after him. She stopped as the door of Chrno's room was nearly slammed into her face. Wildly she drummed with her fist on the door. "Open the door!"

"No!" Chrno screamed from the inside. "No, I don't know what'll happen next. And I don't want to hurt you seriously…"

Rosette's hand glided down the door as she stopped knocking. "I see…"

Some minutes later she knocked again at his door.

"Go. Away. Now."

She plead him again to let her in and told him that she had something for him. Though she really hated to do that, she had to.

The door was opened and she was let him. Like promised she gave him the things she had stolen.

It didn't take a long time until the drugs showed their effect. Chrno became much calmer. "I'm sorry… I'm just too weak." He apologized and gave the bags back to her. "You're right. I can't break the addiction alone. Please hide it, or destroy it, whatever you like, but do not give any of those to me anymore... I think the others will burn some broken pales during the next week. Put it under the wood pile and the damn stuff will burn… Until then, please hide it from me. And don't come close to me while I'm on withdrawal."

Rosette gave him a nod and placed her hand on his arm. "Don't worry. Together we'll make it." She smiled warmly at him and turned to the door. "I guess you're again not coming to dinner, hu?"

He shook his head and lay down on the bed.

"Good night then." Rosette turned off the light and closed the door behind her.

--

It was now the day afterwards. Chrno's situation had become worse. His mood deteriorated. He had also become more aggressive than usual. Because of this he told Joe that he was sick. It was better for him to have some days free. Like this nobody would fall prey to his bad mood.

Rosette hadn't visited him. He had prohibited it.

The blonde thought it was best to respect his wish.

Already in the afternoon he couldn't take it anymore.

Rosette was scared that he could possibly hurt himself, she had to bring him some stuff again.

--

The next day was a damn schoolday again. Weekend was over.

When she came home in the afternoon the great shock awaited her. Both of her parents stood in the doorway and awaited her with a pissed look on their face.

"Young lady." Vinsent growled. Rosette gulped. It wasn't a good sign that he called her like this. "Care to explain this?"

"Explain what?" She asked innocently.

They took her inside and made her sit down on the cough. Her parents stood in front of her, blocking all ways to escape, and looked down to her.

"Explain that." Her mother held the two bags ten cm in front of the girl's face. "And why I found it between your underwear while I was putting the laundry in your drawer."

The blonde gasped and searched some words. "I… I can explain that. R-really, I can!" She stuttered. "You see… it actually isn't mine." He felt like she was shrinking under her parents' glare.

"Do not lie to us! We are your parents and we want you to tell the truth! Please, tell us! Why do you do such things?" Her mother nearly cried – she was a woman who liked to cry because of everything.

"I-I…" Rosette stuttered again. She couldn't tell them the truth! She had promised Chrno not to tell anyone! And she would definitely not betray him. "I won't tell you anything!" she shouted… louder than she wanted. Joshua came downstairs and looked puzzled from one of them to the other.

"Go upstairs!" Vinsent commanded him. Quickly Joshua nodded and ran upstairs again.

The front door also opened and Chrno peeked inside.

"I was just next door and heard a scream. Is everything okay?" he asked them.

While the two adults' attention was on Chrno, Rosette tried to tell Chrno what happen which was pretty difficult without making a sound.

"Oh, it's nothing. It's just one of those arguments teenagers have with their parents." Vinsent smiled at him. Unbelievable that his mood could change so fast…

The Chrno noticed the bad in the woman's hand.

He cursed quietly and entered the room.

"Get out!" Rosette hissed.

"Have you just said something?" Vinsent turned to her again.

She quickly shook her head and looked on the floor.

"Anyways you are in lots of trouble now, young lady." The older man warned her.

"Wait." Chrno called and entered the room. He took the stuff away from Rosette's mother. "This is not hers. I-it's mine. She didn't do anything wrong. It's not right to punish her." He said. It was most likely that he had ruined his life with that.

"Shut up! It is mine!" Rosette yelled trying to protect him.

"No, it is not and you know that." He addressed the girl. "I'm sorry." He addressed the parents and was about to leave.

"You little brat are giving drugs to my daughter?!" Vinsent yelled at him furiously.

Chrno stopped and took a deep breath. "Not for her to take it, but she should hide it, so I don't get it."

Vinsent was about to say something, but Chrno already left the room. He thought it was better to pack his suitcase now...

A new argument started. Vinsent also called Joe to tell him about the news. Dismayed Joe gasped. "I didn't think that of Chrno… I didn't think that I was so easily to deceive. I guess I'll have to throw him out then." The old man sighed and ran his hand over his face.

"No! Don't do that!!! Please! He needs the job! And hasn't he always been a good help to you?!" Rosette shrieked.

"You shut up. You've already made enough trouble." The mother said.

"Go and pack your stuff." Vinsent ordered her.

"What?!"

"You heard what I said. We're leaving immediately. I don't want to live in a country where my daughter becomes a junky in less than a month." Vinsent said and gripped her arm. Then he led her upstairs and observed her while packing.

"That's so mean! You can't do this!" Rosette cried under tears while she collected her stuff. Wow, at the beginning she had wanted nothing more than to go back to the USA, but now she wanted nothing more than to stay and to help Chrno. And always… there was her father who wanted something different.

The tears streamed over her cheek as she put the last shirt in her suitcase. Her father observed every step of hers and closed the car door finally. The other family members were also ready to take off.

Chrno tried to talk to Vinsent for a last time, but the older one turned around and pointed with his finger on Chrno's chest. "I want you to stay away from my family. Don't you dare to come any closer again." With that he sat down on the driver's seat. The engine roared and they drove away from the ranch. Rosette turned around in her seat and waved for a last time with a last tear on her cheek.

Back in the USA everything returned to the normal life. Soon it seemed like Rosette had never been away. She met her old best friends; they went to school and did other things together. The topic of moving back was a total taboo in the family and she didn't hear anything from Chrno again.

Well, at least almost. About half a year later she sat with some friends in a café. Suddenly her cell phone vibrated telling her that she got a message. It said: "Thanks a lot. I'm clean now."

She was so happy to hear that…

--

Year by year had passed. Rosette had grown older, as well as her brother did. The two of them were now driving along a street. They were on the way to visit their parents. It was her mother's birthday. It was winter and the streets were icy though. Suddenly Joshua lost the control over the car and they were thrown off the road. They crashed into a tree.

Rosette opened her eyes and saw the bright light of a hospital neon lamp. She groaned and sat up. A nurse helped her and called a doctor to talk to her.

The doctor entered the room. He was focused on the folder in his hands.

"Well, you were lucky, Miss." He said still not looking at her. "As far as the file says you have no serious injuries, Miss.. uh…" He turned the page around to look for the name. "…Rosette?" Chrno's red eyes looked over to her.

At first Rosette stared at him then she started to laugh.

He came over to her and hugged her shortly.

"I see you really made it." She grinned widely at him after he had let go.

"Yes, but only because you helped me."

The messenger on his belt peeped loudly. He looked on it.

"What's wrong?" Rosette asked as she saw the worried look on his face.

"Your brother." He said and started to hurry out of the room.

Rosette got out of the bed, yelled something at the nurse who tried to hold her back and followed him. She stopped in front of a huge door. There the nurse caught her and made her sit down on a chair next to the door.

"Please you have to wait here. Can I bring you something to make you feel better?" The nurse asked kindly.

"Yes. MY BROTHER." Rosette shouted.

What had happened to him? Was it bad? Well, it had to be bad since Chrno looked so worried. It seemed like an eternity until the door opened again. Chrno stepped out of it took off the thing in front of his mouth and the rubber gloves. He looked tired and stressed.

"And?" Rosette asked. Her hands were balled to a fist. The fingernails dug into the flesh. It hurt. She didn't mind.

"He'll live." Chrno finally said.

Rosette collapsed in his arms crying 'Thank you' for a hundred times.


End file.
